SXP Player Series: Willy Adames

Introducing the SXP Player Series: Swing XP training bats are used by professional and amateur baseball players all around the world. Swing XP has partnered with some of the finest big league prospects who use Swing XP bats as a regular part of their batting practice regimen. In the SXP Player Series, the Swing XP digital team will publish interviews with some of those players. We hope you enjoy their stories!

In our first installment of the SXP Player Series, we talk to Willy Adames, the starting shortstop of the Montgomery Biscuits, and currently ranked the #1 prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. At just 21 years of age, the Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic native has impressed during his time in the minors. His most recent big-time achievement was being invited to play in the Futures Game in San Diego this summer. Willy uses his Swing XP bat for batting practice before every game. Read Willy’s interview below to learn more about him! #DominateThePlate

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Willy Adames on why he uses Swing XP:

“I love to swing the bat because it makes me feel like my hands can go inside of the ball and my regular bat. And I just love to swing because I think it helps me to feel the barrel of the bat, so that way I can just go right through the ball. And I just do it right before the games, I do kind of like a BP with the bat…I just love it, man. It’s really great.”

What made you fall in love with the game of baseball?

Since I was a kid, my father always would bring me to the field and teach me how to play the game, and since I was three years old, I started watching games and just fell in love with the game. And that’s what I love to do. And that’s the only thing I know how to do.

What was your favorite baseball team to watch to watch as a kid when you were just getting introduced to baseball?

I loved to watch the Red Sox when they had Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez—oh my God. It was bomb!

So would you say Manny Ramirez was your favorite hitter growing up? Manny and David?

Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols. There were my favorite hitters when I was a kid.

Who do you think is the greatest hitter in baseball right now?

Right now? There’s a lot of good baseball players right now, but I think the best baseball player all around is Mike Trout. But if you asked me who’s the best hitter, I’d go with Miguel Cabrera.

No Giancarlo Stanton?

Nah. I mean, I love Giancarlo [Stanton], and he has unbelievable power, but [as for an] all-around player, I think Mike Trout is the best.

Who currently has the greatest influence on you as a person and as a player?

My father.

Does he come to all your games? Does he get to see you play a lot?

Not really. But he always watches the games, and he always is telling me what I’m doing wrong.

When you make contact with a ball, whether it’s a homer or a deep drive or a liner, what’s the first thing that comes into your head when you make contact when you’re about to start running to first base?

Just run hard, but if I know that it’s a homer, I don’t know—you just get excited and happy. If you know that it’s a homer, you never think. You just want to give the managers high-fives and run the bases.

Do you have another activity you like to play?

I love to play basketball, even though my father doesn’t like that, but I try it.

We gotta be careful—no twisted ankles on the basketball court.

Yeah, no, no. If it’s just easy, making some shots.

What is something fun that interests you that people might not expect?

I like to watch a lot of movies. My favorite movie is Fast & Furious, the whole series.

How to you train with Swing XP?

“I love to swing the bat because it makes me feel like my hands can go inside of the ball and my regular bat. And I just love to swing because I think it helps me to feel the barrel of the bat, so that way I can just go right through the ball. And I just do it right before the games, I do kind of like a BP with the bat…I just love it, man. It’s really great.”

Follow Willy on Twitter! And tune into the SXP Player Series next week for our interview with Milwaukee Brewers second Baseman, Scooter Gennett! #DominateThePlate